North Korea Reportedly Rebuffs U.S. Offer To Talk
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Seoul, South Korea (AHN)-Despite a U.S. official's insistence that no new offer of direct talks had been made to Pyongyang, South Korea's vice foreign minister confirmed reports that the United States had offered one-on-one talks with North Korea on the communist nation's nuclear program, but was rejected. South Korea's Yonhap news agency and other media reported Tuesday that the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, proposed a meeting, that was rejected, with his North Korean counterpart during a recent stop in China. During a news briefing, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, said, "I understand that Assistant Secretary Hill made such a gesture on his own initiative in an effort to resume" six-nation talks on the North's nuclear program. However, a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the ongoing process, reiterated that the United States would only see the North as part of meetings with other countries, such as the nuclear negotiations. Efforts to restart the disarmament talks have gained greater urgency in recent weeks as leaders worry about a potential North Korean nuclear weapons test and considering the North's decision to test launch seven missiles in July. According to the report, nuclear talks-among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States-were last held |
